Bruised Knees and Splinters
by Rayamon
Summary: A little fluffy slightly Mimou fic! Mimi bruises her knees,and it's up to Joe to make it all better ^_^


"It's not fair

Author's Note: This fanfic is a gift fic for my friend Pulsar, for not only beta-ing my fanfics (most of which never get finished) and for getting me hooked on Kensuke, but for being a great friend too. She also kindly let me upload it for all of you to read as well. Cheers m'dears!

This fanfic takes place during the Golden Age of Mimou, when the gang have split up and Mimi and Joe are on their own.

And I never realised how much fun it is to write fluff! I might do some more in the future!

****

Bruised Knees and Splinters

By Rayamon

The evening hung over the Digital World like a soft blanket. Despite the threat of the Dark Masters, and the battles the divided Digi-Destined were fighting, the world was at peace.

Well, almost.

"It's not fair!" pouted Mimi "It's just not fair!"

"What isn't?" asked her Digimon companion, Palmon.

"Everything!" wailed Mimi, throwing her arms into the air "First of all I get sent to summer camp instead of the mall like I wanted, then we get sucked into this weird world, then when we get back home we have to return AGAIN, then everyone starts fighting and we all end up splitting up..." she flopped down onto the grass "And then Joe makes me go find some food! It's not fair!"

"Mimi," said Palmon, sitting down next to her partner "You know that I need food to Digivolve and protect you, and so does Gomamon. Besides, Joe said you could either go looking for food or firewood, and you said food."

"But...but...why can't we just eat the food that Joe bought with him??"

Palmon sighed "Because we might need that for an emergency. Besides, there's plenty of food around here."

Mimi stuck out her tongue "Yeah, fruit and leaves. Yummy."

Palmon rolled her eyes "It's either fruit or starve. Besides, don't you want to show Joe that you can look after yourself?"

"Well..." Palmon smiled as she saw Mimi blush, and put one of her flipper-like arms around her.

"C'mon then, what's say we get as much food as possible and show Joe just how much we can take care of ourselves!"

Mimi giggled "You're right, Palmon, let's go!"

With that, the pair took off into the Digital forest, in search of dinner.

************************************************************

Back at camp, Joe and Gomamon were just recovering from their attempt at getting firewood. Gomamon wasn't able to climb the trees to get the best branches, so Joe had to do it. And that meant falling out of trees and landing in thorn bushes. A LOT. And since Gomamon couldn't carry much wood either, Joe had to make him a mini travois, but the over-zealous Gomamon had managed to drop most of the sticks, meaning Joe had to make several trips. Now, after getting a suitable amount, they were building it into a campfire.

"Ow!" said Joe, dropping his branch and clutching his hand in pain.

"Huh?" asked Gomamon, patting the pile into place with his flippers "What's the matter?"

Joe looked down at his injured hand "I've got a splinter!"

"Oh well. At least it won't kill you."

"Are you kidding? It could go sceptic! I could get gangrene and have my arm amputated! It could get infected! I'll come down with a fever! I'll end up in a coma! I'll end up six foot under! Besides," he sniffed "It hurts!"

"Aahh..." said Gomamon in mock sympathy "You poor baby! Want me to get it out for you?"

"Uhh..." Joe took one look at Gomamon's sharp claws "Maybe not!"

"C'mon Joe!" said Gomamon, flapping forward "It won't hurt!"

"Eep! It's alright, Gomamon!" squeaked Joe, edging backwards.

"Don't be such a baby!" cried Gomamon, leaping straight at his partner.

"HELP! POLICE! ASSAULT!!!" screamed Joe, scrambling away from the little seal. Leaping to his feet, he grabbed a branch from the stick pile and held it in front of him like a sword "Aha! En guarde!"

Gomamon picked up his own stick between his claws and the two began a mock swordfight.

"Do you expect me to talk?" asked Joe as the two battled across the campsite.

"No Mr Kido, I expect you to die!" laughed Gomamon, jabbing at Joe's feet with his stick.

And soon Joe had forgotten his pain as the two ended up in a giggling heap on the floor.

************************************************************

"Do you hear that?" asked Mimi, her arms full of the fruit that she and Palmon had collected.

"Hear what?" asked Palmon, using her Poison Ivy attack to bring down a bunch of bananas.

"That laughing!"

Palmon cocked her head to one side "Sounds like Joe and Gomamon."

"That means that they're having fun! Without us! C'mon Palmon, let's go!"

With that, the pink princess took off at a run towards camp.

"Mimi, wait up!" cried Palmon, struggling under the weight of the rather large bunch of bananas that was at least her height and twice her weight.

************************************************************

Years of running through malls and shopping centres to the sales had given Mimi quite a lot of speed. Chasing through the Digital woods (and forgetting her partner in the process), she headed towards their campsite.

Turning a corner on the natural path, she saw the clearing where they had set up camp. Joe and Gomamon were still on the floor, laughing.

"Joe! Gomamon! We're back!"

Eager to show Joe just how much fruit she and Palmon had gathered, she charged straight into the clearing.

Unfortunately, she wasn't looking where she was going.

After ferrying all the firewood, Gomamon had (thankfully) discarded his miniature travois.

Right in the middle of the path.

And also right in front of Mimi.

"Hey guys, look how much fruit we AAHHH!!!"

Running full pelt, Mimi stepped on the travois and slipped. The fruit flew everywhere, her feet tangled under her and she landed face down in an undignified heap on the floor.

"Mimi!" cried Joe, running over to his friend "Are you alright?"

"No..." sniffed Mimi, letting Joe pick her up. Straightening her hat, her eyes went wide and she cried out in pain "OW!"

"What is it?" asked Joe, concerned.

Tears welled up in her eyes "My knee hurts!"

"Let me take a look at it. Lift up your skirt."

Mimi shot him a withering look "You hentai!"

Joe sighed and rolled his eyes "I don't mean like THAT! I mean just raise it so I can see your knee."

"Oh..." wiping away her tears, Mimi lifted her dress a bit so Joe could see her knee. There was quite a large bruise on it, not to mention the fact that it was bleeding slightly.

Mimi took one look at it and promptly burst into tears.

"Ah geez," said Joe, holding up his hands. He looked down at Gomamon "You know I can't handle her when she's like this! Do something, Gomamon!"

Gomamon cocked his head in thought and scrambled up onto Mimi's lap.

"Hey Mimi, I know what'll cheer you up!"

Mimi sniffed "What?"

Gomamon grinned, glad to see that she had stopped bawling somewhat "Well, you know when we were in the Real World?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I was looking in Joe's room when he was ringing all those numbers you guys gave him and I found something called a 'diary'. And guess what he wrote in there about you..."

"OK, that's enough!" cried Joe, grabbing Gomamon and covering his mouth with his hand., blushing furiously.

"Mmph hmmph!" protested Gomamon.

Mimi giggled, then remembered that her knee still hurt "Owwww! Joe, it huuurrrrrts!"

Joe sighed and released Gomamon "Don't worry, I'll patch you up. Now where did I put that cotton wool..."

He began to search around in his bag, when suddenly Palmon came running into the clearing, narrowly avoiding tripping over the travois herself.

"Mimi!" she cried, seeing her partner's knee "Are you alright?"

"No..." sniffed Mimi, eyes welling up with tears again.

Joe finally got the cotton wool out of his bag and soaked it with some water from the bottle of water he'd bought with him (after learning about how handy it is to carry water with you after those incidents in the deserts on File Island and Server). "Now Mimi, this may sting a bit. But it has to be done."

Mimi's eyes went wide and she backed away "What are you going to do?"

Joe smiled "I'm just going to clean your wound, OK? And you can hold onto Gomamon if you want."

"Okay..." said Mimi apprehensively, picking up the little seal and holding him like a teddy bear.

Joe dabbed the wet cotton wool on the cut.

"AAAHHHH!!!!" screamed Mimi, squeezing Gomamon so tight he began to turn blue.

"Ack...air...too...too tight! Leggo!"

"There!" said Joe, finishing and throwing the cotton wool away "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Mimi and Gomamon shot him a death glare.

Joe rummaged in his bag again and took out a plaster. Peeling off the back, he stuck it on the cut and gave Mimi's leg a pat "There, all done!"

"Wow Joe!" said Palmon, looking down at her partner's knee "You did a really good job!"

Joe stood up and offered his hand to Mimi "C'mon, let's get you near the campfire, and then we can eat."

Mimi attempted to stand up, but winced when she bent her knee. She looked up at Joe with big, imploring puppy eyes.

The eldest Digi-Destined groaned and rolled his eyes, before bending down and scooping up Mimi in his arms. Staggering a bit at the weight, he managed to carry her towards the pile of sticks and gently set her down again. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a box of matches and tried to light the fire, while Palmon and Gomamon gathered all the fruit Mimi had dropped in her fall.

Pretty soon, Joe got the fire lit and the gang sat around, eating fruit under the night sky.

Joe took a bite out of the piece of fruit he was eating (he didn't know what it was, but no doubt it'd give him hives later on) and glanced at Mimi. To his dismay, he saw the girl looking quite depressed, not even touching her fruit.

"Mimi? What's wrong?"

Mimi started, then grinned back at him "Oh nothing. Nothing at all."

Joe put down his meal and went and moved next to her "C'mon, I know something's up. What's the matter?"

Mimi sniffed "It's just that we're here in this world, away from our families, fighting evil monsters and splitting up again..." tears welled up in her eyes "And my knee still hurts!"

Joe sweatdropped, then recovered "Then maybe this'll help!" without warning, he lent towards her and kissed her on the cheek.

Mimi jumped and whirled round, staring at Joe in complete shock "What was that for????"

"When I was little and I got hurt, my mother always used to kiss me and make me feel better..." he turned away and blushed "I hope I didn't offend you..."

The pink princess giggled "Nope, and guess what?"

"What?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore!"

Joe smiled, relieved, and raised his hand to adjust his glasses. He touched them, then suddenly yelped in pain.

"Joe?" asked Mimi "What is it?"

Joe looked down at his hand "I've still got that splinter!"

Mimi took his hand in hers and looked at it "Well, it has to come out!"

"But...but..."

"C'mon Joe!" laughed Gomamon, nuzzling his partner with his head "It may sting a bit, but it has to be done!"

Joe glared at the little Digimon.

"Sometimes I don't know how I put up with you."

Mimi took off her gloves and laid them on the floor. Picking up Joe's hand again, she looked at him "You can hold onto Palmon if you like!"

Sighing, Joe wrapped his free arm around the plant Digimon.

Without warning, Mimi dug her sharp nails into Joe's finger.

"AAAHHHH!!!!" screamed Joe, crushing Palmon in a death grip.

"There!" said Mimi, finally getting the splinter out "All done! Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

She took one look at the wailing Joe clutching his hand in pain and the half-suffocated Palmon and sweatdropped.

Joe sniffed and wiped away a tear "That hurt, Meems."

"Aah...then maybe this will make it better!" she leant forward and gave Joe a kiss on his cheek, making him blush. "Does it hurt now?"

Joe blinked in shock "Uh...no."

Mimi put her arm around Joe and snuggled up to him "Well, neither does my knee!"

"Heeeeeyy!" whined Gomamon, crawling into his partner's lap "I want some fuss too!"

"Don't forget about me!" said Palmon, wrapping her arms around all three of them.

And pretty soon, Mimi and Palmon had dozed off in Joe's arms, lulled by the warmth of the campfire.

"Jooooee..." murmured Gomamon, on the verge of dropping off "Next time I bruise my knees, can I get a kiss to make it better too?"

Joe giggled and rubbed his partner's mohawk "Gomamon, technically you don't have knees."

Gomamon yawned "Well, next time...next time I...I hurt myself then..."

His partner smiled "Sure thing Gomamon. Sure thing."

Pleased at this, the little seal finally closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.

Joe looked down at his sleeping companions and gave them a little group hug, since they were all wrapped up in his arms.

"Sure thing," he whispered, looking down at their peaceful faces "Sure thing."

Beneath his vest-top, the Crest of Reliability glowed ever so slightly.

And the little group of two humans and two Digimon slept beneath the twinkling sky of the Digital World.


End file.
